International Trade
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending November 19, 2021
COVID-19: Federal Courts Affirm Stay and Consolidate Cases Challenging OSHA’s Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard 🌾
On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion reaffirming the court’s November 6, 2021 temporary stay of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) November 5, 2021 COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (86 FR 61402). BST Holdings v. OSHA, No. 21-60845. OSHA’s “Emergency Temporary Standard” webpage now states that, although the agency “remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending October 29, 2021
Agribusiness: Federal Court Allows Securities Fraud Claims to Proceed Against Bayer Re: Monsanto Purchase 🌾
On October 19, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order denying Bayer’s motion to dismiss a suit brought by Bayer investors alleging that the company’s actions in connection with its acquisition of Monsanto violated the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Sheet Metal Workers National Pension Fund v. Bayer Aktiengesellschaft, No. 3:20-cv-04737. The plaintiffs, multiple pension funds, claim that Bayer misstated the safety of glyphosate and Roundup, Bayer’s own due diligence efforts, and the legal risks […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending October 22, 2021
Animal Welfare: Federal Court Refuses to Dismiss Suit to Compel USDA Regulations on Poultry Processing Plant Animal Handling 🌾
On October 13, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York issued a decision refusing to dismiss two animal welfare organizations’ lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for refusing to issue regulations governing live animal handling practices at poultry processing plants. Animal Welfare Institute et al. v. Perdue et al., No. 6:20-cv-06595. While the decision rests upon technical legal issues of standing and subject matter jurisdiction, the lawsuit, if successful, would compel USDA […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending August 13, 2021
Pesticides/Herbicides: California State Appellate Court Affirms Verdict in Pilliod v. Monsanto 🌾
On August 9, 2021, the Court of Appeal for the State of California issued an opinion affirming the jury verdict in a glyphosate products liability claim against Monsanto/Bayer. Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Company, No. A158228. In 2019, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, who alleged that their thirty-year use of Monsanto/Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused them both to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in the amount of $2 billion but the trial court reduced it to $87 million on […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending July 30, 2021
Animal Welfare: Federal Appeals Court Upholds California’s Proposition 12 With Five Months Until Its Effective Date 🌾
On July 28, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision in Nat’l Pork Producers Council, et al v. Karen Ross, et al, No. 20-55631, holding that California’s Proposition 12 in-state production animal confinement standards and in-state sales restriction for products not produced in accordance with them, do not violate the United States Constitution’s Commerce Clause. In upholding Proposition 12’s constitutionality, the Court affirmed the earlier decision upholding Proposition 12 issued by the U. S. District Court for […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending July 2, 2021
Animal Welfare: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Refusal to Grant Injunction Against California’s Proposition 12 🌾
On June 28, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States denied North American Meat Institute’s (NAMI) petition for certiorari from the refusal to grant an injunction against California’s Proposition 12 on the basis that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause. North American Meat Institute v. Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California, et al., No. 20-1215. Proposition 12 establishes in-state animal confinement standards for egg-laying hens, veal calves, and breeding sows and prohibits the in-state sale of noncompliant products (included […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending June 11, 2021
WOTUS: EPA Requests Remand and Announces Intent to Rewrite WOTUS Definition 🌾
On June 9, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a motion in litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts requesting the remand without vacatur of the agency’s April 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) (85 FR 22250), defining “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act, for the express reason that EPA plans to attempt another re-write of the WOTUS definition. Conservation Law Foundation v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 1:20-cv-10820. According to EPA’s accompanying
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending April 30, 2021
COVID-19: White House Reviewing OSHA’s Long-Delayed Emergency Temporary Standard
On April 26, 2021, according to a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) spokesperson, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) submitted to the White House an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for the prevention of workplace COVID-19 transmission. President Biden’s January 21, 2021 Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety directed OSHA to decide upon the necessity of an ETS and submit it to the White House by March 15, 2021, however that action was long-delayed without official explanation. An ETS on this topic would represent the first mandatory federal government […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending March 26, 2021
COVID-19: USDA Announces New ‘Pandemic Assistance for Producers’ Initiative 🌾
On March 24, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its new $6 billion financial assistance initiative, USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers. Combining existing programs with new spending, the initiative aims to resolve disparities in previous assistance distribution through a four-part agenda: 1) $6 billion in Consolidated Appropriations Act and unspent coronavirus funds for new program spending, including assistance for the Dairy Donation Program, biofuels, specialty crops, and farmworker personal protective equipment; 2) $500 million in additional existing program spending, including the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—week ending January 29, 2021
Executive Branch Transition: White House Executive Order Directs Review of Previous Administration Actions, Cancels and Revokes Others
On January 25, 2021, President Biden published in the Federal Register Executive Order (EO) 13990, titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” 86 FR 7037 Among other things, the EO directs agency heads to immediately review all agency actions taken between January 20, 2017 and January 20, 2021 that “are or may be inconsistent with, or present obstacles to” the administration’s voluminous policies articulated in the EO. The agency heads shall consider suspending, revising […]
